diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5289285..63b21ae 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@ need to be booted with `-insecure-tls` for this to work.
 
 * `IGNORE_UNFIXED` - Do not count vulnerabilities without a fix towards the threshold
 
+* `IGNORE_UNDERLYING` - Do not count vulnerabilities if they don't appear in the topmost layer.
+
 Usage:
 
     CLAIR_ADDR=localhost CLAIR_OUTPUT=High CLAIR_THRESHOLD=10 DOCKER_USER=docker DOCKER_PASSWORD=secret klar postgres:9.5.1
diff --git a/clair/clair.go b/clair/clair.go
index 837a536..bc794d4 100644
--- a/clair/clair.go
+++ b/clair/clair.go
@@ -105,9 +105,14 @@ func filterEmptyLayers(fsLayers []docker.FsLayer) (filteredLayers []docker.FsLay
 	return
 }
 
+func lastLayer(fsLayers []docker.FsLayer) (lastLayer []docker.FsLayer) {
+	lastLayer = append(lastLayer, fsLayers[len(fsLayers)-1])
+	return
+}
+
 // Analyse sent each layer from Docker image to Clair and returns
 // a list of found vulnerabilities
-func (c *Clair) Analyse(image *docker.Image) ([]*Vulnerability, error) {
+func (c *Clair) Analyse(image *docker.Image, ignoreUnderlying bool) ([]*Vulnerability, error) {
 	// Filter the empty layers in image
 	image.FsLayers = filterEmptyLayers(image.FsLayers)
 	layerLength := len(image.FsLayers)
@@ -120,6 +125,10 @@ func (c *Clair) Analyse(image *docker.Image) ([]*Vulnerability, error) {
 	if err := c.api.Push(image); err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("push image %s/%s:%s to Clair failed: %s\n", image.Registry, image.Name, image.Tag, err.Error())
 	}
+	if ignoreUnderlying {
+		//we only analyse the last layer
+		image.FsLayers = lastLayer(image.FsLayers)
+	}
 	vs, err := c.api.Analyze(image)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("analyse image %s/%s:%s failed: %s\n", image.Registry, image.Name, image.Tag, err.Error())
diff --git a/klar.go b/klar.go
index 32ec928..36edbfe 100644
--- a/klar.go
+++ b/klar.go
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ const (
 	optionRegistryInsecure   = "REGISTRY_INSECURE"
 	optionWhiteListFile      = "WHITELIST_FILE"
 	optionIgnoreUnfixed      = "IGNORE_UNFIXED"
+	optionIgnoreUnderlying   = "IGNORE_UNDERLYING"
 )
 
 var priorities = []string{"Unknown", "Negligible", "Low", "Medium", "High", "Critical", "Defcon1"}
@@ -119,15 +120,16 @@ type jsonOutput struct {
 }
 
 type config struct {
-	ClairAddr     string
-	ClairOutput   string
-	Threshold     int
-	JSONOutput    bool
-	FormatStyle   string
-	ClairTimeout  time.Duration
-	DockerConfig  docker.Config
-	WhiteListFile string
-	IgnoreUnfixed bool
+	ClairAddr        string
+	ClairOutput      string
+	Threshold        int
+	JSONOutput       bool
+	FormatStyle      string
+	ClairTimeout     time.Duration
+	DockerConfig     docker.Config
+	WhiteListFile    string
+	IgnoreUnfixed    bool
+	IgnoreUnderlying bool
 }
 
 func newConfig(args []string) (*config, error) {
@@ -161,14 +163,15 @@ func newConfig(args []string) (*config, error) {
 	}
 
 	return &config{
-		ClairAddr:     clairAddr,
-		ClairOutput:   clairOutput,
-		Threshold:     parseIntOption(optionClairThreshold),
-		JSONOutput:    formatStyle == "json",
-		FormatStyle:   formatStyle,
-		IgnoreUnfixed: parseBoolOption(optionIgnoreUnfixed),
-		ClairTimeout:  time.Duration(clairTimeout) * time.Minute,
-		WhiteListFile: os.Getenv(optionWhiteListFile),
+		ClairAddr:        clairAddr,
+		ClairOutput:      clairOutput,
+		Threshold:        parseIntOption(optionClairThreshold),
+		JSONOutput:       formatStyle == "json",
+		FormatStyle:      formatStyle,
+		IgnoreUnfixed:    parseBoolOption(optionIgnoreUnfixed),
+		IgnoreUnderlying: parseBoolOption(optionIgnoreUnderlying),
+		ClairTimeout:     time.Duration(clairTimeout) * time.Minute,
+		WhiteListFile:    os.Getenv(optionWhiteListFile),
 		DockerConfig: docker.Config{
 			ImageName:        args[1],
 			User:             os.Getenv(optionDockerUser),
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index a69832e..81f9a60 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ func main() {
 	var vs []*clair.Vulnerability
 	for _, ver := range []int{1, 3} {
 		c := clair.NewClair(conf.ClairAddr, ver, conf.ClairTimeout)
-		vs, err = c.Analyse(image)
+		vs, err = c.Analyse(image, conf.IgnoreUnderlying)
 		if err != nil {
 			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Failed to analyze using API v%d: %s\n", ver, err)
 		} else {